Every year, the Pew Research Center reports on the public’s trust in the federal government.
In April of 2019, only 17% of us trust government to “do what’s right.” Both Democrats and Republicans like the government a bit more when their party is in power, but even then, the numbers are lower than 25%.
The finding that less than one-fifth of the country trusts the federal government is really no surprise. The work of the federal government feels far removed from the day-to-day lives of most of us. The closest many Americans come to the federal government is when they file their taxes.
War, deficits, shutdowns and regulatory failures — plus the shenanigans of the current president — can partially explain the lack of trust. But the numbers were as low as 18% under Obama and 15% at the end of George W. Bush’s presidency.
In contrast to the dismal lack of faith in the federal government, Gallup’s annual governance poll taken in the fall of 2018, found that an astonishing 72% of Americans trust local government, and 63% trust their state governments.
That makes sense to me. Local government affects people every day. Water comes out of the tap, roads are plowed and fires are put out. Education is a local responsibility, as is policing. And you are much more likely to know your local elected officials that your senator or member of congress.
State government also makes expenditures and policies that have immediate effects on our lives. Those decisions are made by people that you might run into at the grocery store or at the movies. State and local government are more accessible and have the possibility of being more accessible.
This is a municipal election year, and it follows the most active state races that we have had for many years. Up and down the Valley, there are candidates running for local offices, including a hotly contested mayor’s race in Greenfield, city council and school committee races in Greenfield, Easthampton and Northampton, and ballot questions in Greenfield, Easthampton and Holyoke.
It is hard to be a local elected official. When you vote for a tax increase, your neighbors and friends are affected. When the municipality is in contentious negotiations with its employees, your child’s teacher may be unhappy with the municipality’s bargaining position. It can get personal.
In 1985, Mario Cuomo said, “You campaign in poetry. You govern in prose.” The work of local government is definitely prose. Sewer and water pipes don’t have sonnets written about them — although there may be a colorfully profane tirade when those systems fail. The prose of governance requires attention to detail, an empathetic ear, a memory for minutia and a passion for problem-solving.
Decisions that are made by federal and state government can have profound effects on municipalities. Cuts in state aid or chronic underfunding of federally mandated programs inevitably must be managed by local government. Our newly elected officials will quickly realize that and will often find themselves having to explain why they can’t do something because of the federal and state limits placed on local governments.
Even with the challenges I’ve described, the electorate trusts local government. I think one other reason for that trust is the opportunity for anyone who is a registered voter to run for office or serve on a local board or committee. Unlike state or federal government, meetings and documents are available to anyone who is interested. And people who join with others to help in local government find unlikely friends despite political differences.
In 11 days the new political leaders will be hoping they can live up to the expectations of their neighbors and friends. I can absolutely assure them that they will not always succeed. And the people who ran and lost will be second guessing the decisions they made during their campaigns. I can only say thank you for your willingness to take on the challenge of local government and urge them to stay engaged.
I close with some political poetry from the Massachusetts Constitution written by John Adams.
“The end of the institution, maintenance, and administration of government, is to secure the existence of the body politic, to protect it, and to furnish the individuals who compose it with the power of enjoying in safety and tranquility their natural rights, and the blessings of life: and whenever these great objects are not obtained, the people have a right to alter the government, and to take measures necessary for their safety, prosperity and happiness.”
I’ll see you at the polls!
Clare Higgins, of Northampton, a former mayor of the city, is executive director of the nonprofit Community Action Pioneer Valley. She can be reached at columnists@gazettenet.com.